September migration arrived with a bang this week. A strong cold front brought northwest winds and lots of birds on Monday and Tuesday.

Hawks were on the wing around the state, with major flights logged at both Lighthouse Point in New Haven and Quaker Ridge in Greenwich.

I was doing hawk-watch duty at Lighthouse on Monday, when we logged more than 800 diurnal raptors, including 14 bald eagles. Sharp-shinned hawks, as expected, were the most numerous species at this coastal site, but the strong winds pushed a couple of hundred broad-winged hawks off their preferred inland route.

The next day was even better for broad-wingeds at Lighthouse with well over 1,000 recorded.

Other birds were also on the move. At Lighthouse we recorded more than 300 each of chimney swifts and cedar waxwings, and about 900 bobolinks.

A couple of common nighthawks, an American golden-plover and a solitary sandpiper were welcome additions to the mix.

On Tuesday I checked out a number of places in rural Watertown and Woodbury, encountering nice feeding groups of migrants at several locations.

The best bird was a Philadelphia vireo, always a scarce migrant, and it appeared in an interesting mix of more common vireos and warblers. The dominant warbler species on Tuesday, and again Wednesday morning at Hop Brook Lake in Naugatuck, was the northern parula.

There were also multiple black-throated green, chestnut-sided and black-and-white warblers, along with a sprinkling of several other species.

There also a lot of sparrows around, predominantly chipping and song sparrows. The first Lincoln's sparrows have begun to appear, as well as a few white-throated sparrows. The numbers and variety of this group will really hit their stride in October.

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Family

Sophia Saverese attended her first day of kindergarten last week wearing a delicate floral print dress, ballet flats and a bow in her hair, no thanks to the displays at the mall promoting glittery mini-skirts, wedge sandals and one-shouldered tank tops in kiddie sizes.